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Power Platform Development UK: Power Apps, Power Automate and Power BI

dijitul developments builds Microsoft Power Platform solutions for UK SMEs: Power Apps for forms and internal tools, Power Automate flows for approvals and system syncs, and Power BI reports and dashboards. We work out licensing up front, connect to systems outside Microsoft 365 and set up governance. Every project is a fixed-price quote after a free chat.

Updated 2026-11-11 · by the dijitul development team · reviewed by , founder, building websites since 1996

  • Power Apps
  • Power Automate
  • Power BI
  • Dataverse
  • SharePoint
  • Custom connectors
  • Microsoft Entra ID

Sound familiar?

  • A business process runs on an Excel file emailed between five people
  • Approvals for holidays, purchases or expenses happen in email threads that get lost
  • Someone built a Power App that now runs the department, and only they understand it
  • A flow suddenly needs a premium licence for everyone and nobody budgeted for it
  • Management reports are rebuilt by hand in Excel every month
  • You pay for Microsoft 365 but use little beyond email and Teams

Key facts

  • Microsoft defines standard connectors as Microsoft 365 data sources such as SharePoint, Excel and Outlook
  • Microsoft 365 licences include standard connectors; premium connectors such as SQL Server need premium licensing
  • Power Apps Premium includes premium and custom connectors, which Microsoft lists as included with limitations
  • Microsoft Learn says sharing Power BI content needs a Pro or Premium Per User licence
  • On Microsoft Fabric F64 capacity or larger, Microsoft says free-licence users with a viewer role can view Power BI content
  • Data policies in the Power Platform admin centre control which connectors can be used together
  • Solutions and separate environments let changes move from test to live cleanly

What the Power Platform is good at

Microsoft Power Platform is the low-code part of Microsoft 365: Power Apps for building forms and business apps, Power Automate for workflows and approvals, Power BI for reports, and Copilot Studio for AI agents. For SMEs already paying for Microsoft 365 it is often the quickest way to replace spreadsheets and email chains with something structured, using sign-in, security and Teams you already have.

Good fits we would build:

  • A site inspection or job sheet app on phones and tablets, with photos, signatures and offline use.
  • Approval flows for purchase orders, holiday requests or expenses, with Teams notifications and an audit trail.
  • A sync between SharePoint and your accounts or CRM through a connector.
  • A monthly management pack in Power BI that refreshes itself instead of being rebuilt in Excel.

For AI agents on the same platform, see Copilot Studio agents.

Licensing, worked out before we build

Licensing decides the architecture, so we settle it first using Microsoft's documentation. The key line is between standard and premium connectors.

  • Microsoft defines standard connectors as data sources within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, such as SharePoint, Excel and Outlook. These are included with Microsoft 365 licences.
  • Premium connectors reach business systems outside Microsoft 365. Microsoft's licensing FAQ notes that some connectors, such as SQL Server, were reclassified as premium. Custom connectors and Dataverse also need premium licensing.
  • Power Apps Premium covers standard connectors and, in Microsoft's words, premium and custom connectors included with limitations. A premium flow triggered from a Power App is covered for users licensed for that app.
  • Power BI: Microsoft Learn says sharing and collaborating need a Pro or Premium Per User licence. Free-licence users can view shared content only when it is on Microsoft Fabric capacity of F64 or larger.

So a tool used by 40 staff might be built on SharePoint lists and standard connectors to stay inside Microsoft 365 licensing, while a smaller back-office app might justify Dataverse and premium licences. We set out the options and the licences each needs, and you check prices with Microsoft or your licensing partner.

Connecting to systems outside Microsoft

The Power Platform becomes much more useful when it can reach your other systems. Where a prebuilt connector exists, such as Xero, Salesforce or SQL Server, we use it. Where none exists, we build a custom connector from an OpenAPI definition of the system's API, with OAuth 2.0 or API key authentication, so it appears in Power Apps and Power Automate like any other connector. If your system has no API at all, we can build one. For deeper work with Microsoft Graph, Teams and SharePoint outside the Power Platform, see Microsoft 365 integration.

Power Automate flows that move important data get the same care as code: retries, a run history someone checks, alerts on failure, and checks that stop duplicates when a trigger fires twice.

Governance that does not get in the way

Low-code tools spread quickly, which is the point, but it is how SMEs end up with business-critical apps that one person understands. We set up:

  • Environments: separate development and production, so changes are tested before staff see them.
  • Solutions: apps, flows and connectors packaged together so they can be moved and versioned.
  • Data policies in the Power Platform admin centre, which control which connectors can be combined, for example stopping business data flowing to a personal cloud drive.
  • Service accounts for flows that should not depend on one person's login.
  • Documentation written for the next person, not for us.

Power Platform or bespoke software?

We build both, so we do not push one. The Power Platform is usually right for internal tools used by staff who already have Microsoft 365, moderate data volumes and processes that change often. Bespoke software or a web application is usually right for customer-facing systems, high volumes, complex logic, or when per-user licence costs across many users exceed the cost of a custom build. Often an app starts on the Power Platform and moves to custom code once it proves its value. Every Power Platform project is a fixed-price quote after a free chat.

What we deliver

  • A licensing plan per user and per app, based on Microsoft's current licensing guide
  • Canvas or model-driven Power Apps on SharePoint lists or Dataverse
  • Power Automate cloud flows for approvals, notifications and system syncs, with error handling
  • Custom connectors to your own or third-party APIs
  • Power BI semantic models, reports and dashboards with row-level security
  • Development and production environments, solutions and data policies
  • Documentation and a handover session for the people who will maintain it

How it works and what it costs

Every project gets a fixed-price quote after a free initial chat and a short scoping stage. You own the code and the data.

  1. Free chat

    Tell us the problem in plain English: what you do now, what goes wrong and what "better" looks like. No charge, no obligation.

  2. Scoping

    We map the processes, systems and data involved, agree what is in and out, and write it down so there are no surprises.

  3. Fixed-price quote

    You get a fixed price for the agreed scope, or a phased plan for bigger builds, so you can start small and prove it works.

  4. Build and test

    We build in short stages you can see and try, test against real data, then go live carefully with a rollback plan.

  5. Hand over and look after

    You own the code and the data. We can host it, support it and keep improving it, or hand it to your own team.

Frequently asked questions

Do we need extra licences to use Power Apps?

Not always. Microsoft 365 licences include Power Apps and Power Automate with standard connectors such as SharePoint, Excel and Outlook. Premium connectors, custom connectors and Dataverse need premium licensing such as Power Apps Premium. dijitul developments designs around the licences you have where that makes sense.

Can Power Apps connect to our own system?

Yes. If there is a prebuilt connector we use it; otherwise dijitul developments builds a custom connector from your system's API definition, so it works in Power Apps and Power Automate like any other connector. Custom connectors are premium, so we include that in the licensing plan.

Who can view our Power BI reports?

Microsoft Learn says sharing Power BI content needs a Pro or Premium Per User licence, and viewers need one too unless the content sits on Microsoft Fabric capacity of F64 or larger, where free-licence users with a viewer role can view it. We plan licensing around who needs to see what.

Can you take over a Power App someone else built?

Yes. dijitul developments reviews the app and its flows, moves it into a proper solution and environment if needed, replaces personal connections with service accounts, adds error handling and writes documentation, so it no longer depends on one person.

Should we use Power Platform or have custom software built?

Power Platform suits internal tools for Microsoft 365 users with changing processes. Custom software suits customer-facing systems, high volumes, complex logic, or cases where per-user licences across many users cost more than a build. dijitul developments builds both and will recommend one at scoping.

How is Power Platform work priced?

dijitul developments gives a fixed-price quote after a free chat and a short scoping stage covering the app, flows, reports and licensing. Microsoft licences are bought from Microsoft or your licensing partner and are separate from our quote.

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